Somewhere in Texas, a Cybertruck owner saw the words “Wade Mode” and thought, let’s put that to the test. So he drove his Cybertruck down to Grapevine Lake, apparently to test the feature. The truck quickly became disabled. Thankfully the power windows didn’t lock up, and the people inside got out safely. Then Grapevine Fire […]
Well, I would say the test results were conclusive, if nothing else.
The lower the mass sits, the better the truck handles.
If you have something heavy (like a battery pack) which you need to include in the design somewhere, putting it as low to the ground as safely possible is the right choice. So that’s not a stupid decision at all. It’s what literally all EV makers do because it’s objectively the right way to place the battery pack.
Watching that clip, I don’t see the typical signs of a battery fire. So I guess, wade mode did in fact keep the battery dry. Wading through a stream reaching to the top of the wheels would probably work fine. But if you stay in the water, it eventually gets through to some electronics and power is cut off by the overcurrent protection. So just don’t do that.
The lower the mass sits, the better the truck handles.
If you have something heavy (like a battery pack) which you need to include in the design somewhere, putting it as low to the ground as safely possible is the right choice. So that’s not a stupid decision at all. It’s what literally all EV makers do because it’s objectively the right way to place the battery pack.
Watching that clip, I don’t see the typical signs of a battery fire. So I guess, wade mode did in fact keep the battery dry. Wading through a stream reaching to the top of the wheels would probably work fine. But if you stay in the water, it eventually gets through to some electronics and power is cut off by the overcurrent protection. So just don’t do that.